Repairing a Data East Last Action Hero Magnet Controller Board
Author: Wayne Eggert
Date: 5/23/2010
Introduction
I like Data East pinball machines. Last Action Hero wasn't the greatest movie, but the pinball machine is pretty darn fun in my book.. except there are days where the ball seems to drain down the outlane on the skill shot quite a bit. Anyway, this repair involves the magnet contorller board in a Data East Last Action Hero pinball machine.
Problem
Magnets aren't working at all during gameplay and confirmed not working in the Diagnostics. Also the F9 fuse on the PPB board is blowing. This board is used for special solenoids. Originally I thought the solenoid used on The Ripper was the cause of the F9 fuse blowing, but found out the magnet controller board was also on the same fuse. The Ripper is this special chute that you shoot the pinball into and it fires the pinball at lighting speed toward the flippers. After unplugging the magnet controller board, the F9 fuse no longer blew & The Ripper solenoid worked just fine.
Here's a picture of the magnet controller board with arrows showing the 3 mosfets on the board that are responsible for delivering power to each of the 3 magnets under the playfield.
Resolution
As recommended by Clay's repair pages, I replaced each of the P20N10 mosfets with IRL540 mosfets and also added the .22uf capacitor on the 74HCT273 between the clock signal and ground (only IC chip on the magnet board). Diode test on the multimeter won't work on these mosfets. I basically replaced them blindly figuring it was something on the magnet controller board shorting and aside from the single IC on the board, the mosfets were the most likely culprit. After replacing all 3 mosfets, the magnets worked & the F9 fuse no longer blew with the magnet controller board connected.
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